powers to back the u.n. peace plan are also fueling the conflict. today we're sitting down with pierre pitching in he's a historian and political analyst specializing on the arab world he's traveled extensively to the countries that have gone through since so-called arab spring and he's also written extensively on these countries the most recent one being syria thanks very much for joining us today thank you and the first question we'd like to deal with we've been to syria the most latest country you've had a couple of times what was your goal in going to that country. syria is a country that is very much diverse in terms of ethnic and religious groups you have to be inside syria to understand what is really happening there on the ground my goal was to get reliable information so i had to screen all the reports coming from the western news agencies magazines and other media i did some research and

found out that there are actually two rival syrian human rights groups that monitor developments and supply the bulk of information to the west you know what i discovered too was that the uprising was supported by a minority of the population which differs from what the western media are saying when they quote the syrian observatory for human rights also this eerie an opposition is very much divided they do not share the same goals and they use different methods to reach their goals actually i never questioned the credibility of the information that was coming from the region on my way to syria i thought i would see a country torn apart by a raging conflict a country aflame with revolution a country where it would be extremely hard to move around so i was very much surprised when i was given a visa and i mean these stories that it's so difficult to get into syria are sort of you. don't buy some all right so you've talked to the opposition various groups in the opposition can you tell us about what you discussed with them and how you

would assess that. with your saying here you first feels that there is no such thing as a single opposition in fact there are many opposition groups and some of them are in conflict with each other. i'll try to present you with a clearer picture there are two hot beds of discontent that one in the city of hama where the muslim brotherhood led an uprising in the one nine hundred eighty s. the demonstrations that took place there were peaceful in july the syrian army surrounded the city but stopped short of occupying a city early in august the army moved into the city and establish control over it and they've been these demonstrations are continuing the army and the police are present there to prevent the protesters from accessing major squares in the streets the protesters to throw stones at the police from time to time but it's a sort of intifada with these rallies are a very moving and exciting event but they never turn violent so the army does not have to respond although the media often say that the police opened fire on

protesters and yeah it's not true at least i mean i have never seen any use of weapons their homes and other historical center of discontent has become the fighting ground for many armed rebel groups you know so i was there with the residents of homs i would call the members of the civil opposition that these were ordinary people who took up any weapons they could find and defended their neighborhoods from the army in fact they were very badly aren't you however along with this civil uprising we have witnessed a much more dangerous one gash i'm talking about the islamist movement which is fighting in homs it's mainly represented by the foreign brigade which originally even before the revolution was a terrorist and the shiite organization does operate in homes too but the rebellious city residents do not want anything to do with this also there are insurgents who call themselves the free syrian army it has been active on the border with turkey and lebanon mean the free syrian army has been using refugee camps in northern lebanon and turkey's have type provinces as their bases to get

food and training their dog. trained along with urban guerrillas and helped by the french army you can read about it in the french newspaper for example in. these rebels then cross the border and again raid neighboring towns and cities in syria you know who are they so we're desert but there are not many of them the syrian army has largely remained loyal to the government there are fighters who came from libya qatar and saudi arabia so it's not quite clear what kind of force the free syrian army years. after the armed opposition groups inside syria there are also several salafi groups who are responsible for terrorist acts and times all commit her renders atrocities they make enough their opponents execute them cut corpses into pieces and leave them in the neighborhood. how do we classify this movement in syria then is it a civil war is it an uprising is it a revolution. people i think it is

a revolution i think we can say that it is but there are islamic groups in syria that are trying to use this situation and turn syria into an islamic republic something like a salafi caliphate you in a way this is similar to what happened in libya there was a civil war between tribal clans and now a group of salafi is represented in the new government of libya the same is happening in mali this problem has recently become a popular topic of discussion islamic groups spread throughout the sahara and go to sub-saharan african countries but there is something unhealthy about these groups acting alongside the revolutionaries ordered it's impossible to identify or contact them if they are truly secretive groups that are more like all these twenty one you've been critical about the game as well as the reports in the syrian observatory for human rights but in a scenario like this it will be very difficult. to clarify very fly every single

death in the country and what would the fifty deaths how would it be different to five hundred deaths. so how do we put that into context of what you said what is your criticism based on a quote in the press. interview first of all reason i don't think it's too hard to have a more or less clear idea about what's happening in syria i've been able to visit the country twice in the last six months i rented a car drove all over syria was able to go even to hama and homs i was never detained at any military checkpoints the western media choose to rely exclusively on the syrian observatory for human rights of and i publish the results of my investigation in the africa magazine last month there i say that there are two such observatories and that they are both connected with the opposition in reality these organizations are the oppositions propaganda agencies propaganda tools i don't understand why the media choose to use them as a source but it is part of the journalist's job to think critically verify sources

and be extremely cautious but if they decide to just spread the information they receive from the syrian observatory for human rights without asking any questions to let me give you a clear answer to your question i am saying that several dozens were killed in the armed conflict with journalists are talking about reprisals by the regime if the government attacks peaceful protesters we can call it reprisals but if the syrian authorities are dealing with an army based in refugee camps in lebanon and turkey financed from qatar and trained by the french army it's not oppression of the regime is defending its territory from foreign aggression since the beginning of the crisis the government has always stuck to one line which is these are armed groups or they're supported by outsiders by foreigners. are they blind to what is happening in the country to the past to the possibility that this is a real real revolution are they right are they how would you assess the government's stand. and also could you know quillan the first of all as for the

government's rhetoric i don't believe this. government is blind rhetoric and reality are two different things syria's government is in denial of the fact that a revolution is taking place they are talking about some foreign conspiracy about israel and the us plotting against syria more than that my analysis of the situation is completely different i think that starting with two thousand and one after nine eleven the us chose to cooperate closer with the syrian government and they both discovered a mutual enemy the islamic values and i think that the us is very unhappy with what is going on now. israel is also very concerned now should the syrian regime collapse the country could sink into chaos and then israel will have significant problems with what and where is now despite the prevailing anti israeli rhetoric in damascus israel is in fact quite comfortable with the current regime in reality they are getting along pretty well at the moment we see that the ruling regime has

successfully established control over most of homs as well as over it leave in hama and is fighting the free syrian army on the borders of them or the regime is far from collapsing it's nowhere near a downfall only assad has a lot of sunny days ahead of him many people ask me how can you say such things you're advocating the regime because you know i'm not advocating the regime i'm doing my research i want to see what happens on the ground and i take the facts and draw conclusions. now bashar al assad has agreed on the piece by presented by coffee at nine but bashar al assad has made a lot of promises in the past and a lot of them who did not do you think is going to make good on his promise this time for a cease fire on this this place one of the. more than the more kofi annan plan wasn't very well timed as far as the syrian government is concerned you can't really demand things from the government when it has the upper hand and is

defeat on the free syrian army at the moment see the government biggest problem is cool. border raids from refugee camps in turkey and lebanon so what happens is that if well the government gets the upper hand and is defeating the free syrian army a demand comes in to stop the violence and it comes from those who helped the free syrian army conduct their training qatar and france were directly involved in helping them get new arms advanced and heavy weaponry and help them reorganize and review their strategy you cannot demand this from the government it is certainly a dictatorship but it's a legitimate government according to international law and the westphalian system and it's oppressing an armed revolt to reestablish control over its territory i understand that bashar assad said yes we should comply with the plan and i will stop the violence because he wanted to buy some time you'll hear but in reality they continue their offensive against the free syrian army and frankly speaking i find it quite consistent and logical that so how do you see the syrian conflict

ending at all. unless of course there is an intervention from outside office i expect that the baathist government will be able to control the situation with military force after that i think it will conduct aggressive reforms to develop democracy this may even be a formal democracy at the initial stage i believe is going to a large degree this democracy will be formals yet civil society is awakening to making its position known and in the future the government will have to make a turn towards a real democracy but how can we speak about democracy or democratic change with the new constitution approved in syria would allow bashar al assad to stay on for many more years since. it is a transitional period which is absolutely necessary you can't expect too much straightaway you saw what happened to more market duffey in libya you saw what happened in tunisia and egypt i think the situations are similar neither the

government of bashar assad nor any other government is ready to allow bloodshed i also. to the moderate opposition and there is moderate opposition in syria which is not ready to take up arms and the moderate opposition realizes you know that a transitional period of five to ten years will be necessary in order to accomplish this change peacefully without the country being engulfed in civil war and the ball being on i guess here pitching and thanks very much for your time. it seems.

to be so much brighter. about songs from fans to. these films to.

russia with them was victory day on the heroic deeds of millions support an end to the bloodiest war of the. century celebrations at a massive military parade mark sixty seven years since the end of world war two. the un envoy to syria warned civilians are in danger accusing damascus a failing to curb violence despite it being nearly a month since the nationwide truce was imposed but the regime says it's facing terror threats from armed groups. and israel's military aren't buying the politicians threats from iran with some high ranking generals casting doubt to iran is building a nuclear weapon the country's former top spy said he has no trust in the leadership of the prime minister and the defense minister. so we have lines here in our team sports next with paul.

thank you very much marina welcome it to the world of sports has what's coming up almost back sasco moscow move second in the russian premier league with one game to go despite being held to a goal is true or how and by. then there were two spanish athletic bilbao and athletico madrid prepared to go head to head in the europa league final . and remembering the full and russian footballing legends gather at moscow's victory park monument to pay their respects to those who died during the second world war. but for us to ask our moscow have missed a glorious opportunity to take a giant step towards champions league football next season they've been held to a goal is true all i heard by cuban crested are in the russian premier league a place in next season's champions league qualifying stages the prize for whoever finishes second a win that would have moved the army men three points above spots at moscow with only one game to go however they had to settle for a point on tuesday that means the race for second place will go to the final day

when for sas karroubi would secure them the runners up spot if they slip up and spartak would need to win at locomotives to leapfrog their rivals. meanwhile it looks as if we'll have a new manager next season you know i am going now going valencia coach saying he has reached an agreement on a two year contract with the red and white to replace former real sociedad teammate valery cup in forty year old emery will reportedly double his salary to two point four million euros a year. meanwhile in england chelsea now know they need to win the champions league in order to qualify for the competition again next season they can no longer finish fourth in the premier league after suffering a full one defeat to liverpool just days after beating them to lift the f.a. cup the result is only a little. six when all season. meanwhile later on wednesday a little bit of spain will descend on bucharest the remaining city is hosting the all spanish europa league final between athletic bilbao and athletico madrid but it

actually won the competition two years ago after beating fullam in the final diego simeone a side will start as slight favorites their own beaten in seven matches and are also on the verge of qualification for next year's champions league they will have defender lewis player available after recovering from a five problem but midfielder tiago is suspended while striker falcao is looking for his second title in a row having won the competition with porto twelve months ago. but i think to feel a little bit nervous when playing a finalist natural and aware that this would be historic to win two consecutive titles with different clubs all i'm trying to do is keep really focused on what our coach wants and what the team needs from me and what we need to do as a team on the pitch and let's hope that we can reach our target. well this year is the first time the bilbao have reached a european final since one nine hundred seventy seven coach marshall a b also has a fully fit squad to choose from and rested to certain key players in the league

over the weekend and the basque side have the chance to do it double this season as they also face barcelona in the final of the copper del rey. but is it ok well it's true that we've dreamed of these type of victory for many years but it's to have a good omen to talk about victories before actually winning anything and i think it's better to focus on the game on the pitch and then hopefully we'll be able to celebrate because that is a dream we've all had for many years now now a host of russian footballing legends have paid tribute to those who fell during the second world war members of the soviet union's olympic and european championship winning teams gathered at moscow's victory park monument to pay their respects michael reports. it's pretty much the dream for any boy growing up to become a football hero but few would have had as difficult a time achieving that dream than those growing up during wartime. i was four and

living in moore stuff in southeast russia when the war broke out but despite the fact that the far she's had taken control of the c.t. we continued to play football in no courtyards because at that age we had no idea what was going on which is exactly kids like victor who then went on to create the golden era in football during a ten year period the national team won olympic gold and nine hundred fifty six became european champions in one thousand nine hundred sixty and then came second in the same competition four years later legends like goalkeeper. and strikers victor and nikki to see all grew up having no idea what the outcome of the war would bring them over but that didn't stop them from daring to dream. even played on empty stomachs they fed us only once a day and still we continued to play football and once the war was over every single yard was full of children playing football and the most famous food came

from these yards in stark contrast to those who were directly affected by the tribulations of war and there were some who were more fortunate because of the us. territory it meant not all of it was directly in the line of fire and. i was very young when the war began so i have a very fuzzy memory of how it told was back then i lived in but to be a coastal city in what is now the republic of georgia and people even peacefully there were many refugees there was no actual war there so luckily breena was also quite peaceful. really have the luxury of relative freedom and open space those closer to the front line had. a few a country it's near but when you do it there weren't any sports schools or different tested gene holes we have today we didn't have any protective gear or even boots at times we played bare food we played with empty cans as food bowls in

order to sort that man would give us a few words with stew or any use that with that kind of spirit it's little wonder these boys managed to achieve what they did. some lucky ones where even torn between locations. i spent my childhood juggling to desire to become a food delivered to be in a senior. you went from food book to cd and back to food bill again but in the end my call it was food gold and soon it became a guilty prefer to not believe. whether or not these great footballers were affected directly by the war collectively they managed to channel any fear or despair into the beautiful game and it's these legends that prove that despite great adversity not even war can rip children of their dreams like a quick check of. well elsewhere russia have maintained their one hundred percent record of the ice hockey world championship after winning the third game in a row in a chill a billion dinos men have been germany to kneel in stockholm goals from nicholai

jeff on alexei tata shanker gave russia victory next up denmark meanwhile in the other great big game thrust it to me by five goals to nail the. beltway in helsinki defending champions finland had no problems against switzerland running out five two winners claimed a three two win i have a kazakhstan. now in the n.b.a. playoffs the indiana pacers are through to the second round after winning their best of seven series with a landay magic this after a one hundred five eighty seven win in game five is the first time the paces have reached this stage in seven years darren collison and george hale combining for thirty four points meanwhile the atlanta hawks are back in contention in their series with boston they have the deficit to three two after a thrilling eighty seven eighty six when they. difference all the difference in their series against the l.a. lakers nuggets one game five one hundred two one thousand nine hundred you call that both of their series with philadelphia alive following a seventy seven sixty nine win in game five coach tom team b.

day full of praise for top score allowed day he finished with twenty four points. of great energy all around game. got some easy buckets early. good defense rebounding carlos was terrific in the post. gave us great difference great defense and ronnie brewer was terrific. meanwhile in tennis while the more novak djokovic has described the clay court of the madrid masters as in possible this despite a three set win over daniel human rights rather in the first round the serve be the one favorite sixty two six six three but was unhappy with the face claiming afterwards he should have come out in football cleats he also needed advice from chuck norris on how to play on the newly installed blue clay comments come following similar concerns from other players or thora to say the clay makes it easier for t.v. viewers to follow the fly to the ball with the reigning champion will now face

where started australia in meltzer in the second round. and finally in golf tiger woods is back in action this weekend he returns to the p.g.a. tour at the players championship in florida now it's fair to say the former world number one has been inconsistent so far this season his five show winner by health for his first p.g.a. tour title in thirteen months was followed by his worst ever masters performance but the thirty six year old isn't concerned by his lack of consistency. guys have done this before and that's. been through this and you've actually a lot of the guys i lived with me went through those periods where i wasn't quite. where i wanted to be and i had some pretty good runs after that and this is this is no different takes all the time. one of the saw all the sports from a fine i'll have more for you in those london two thousand to join me than.

culture is that so much in a moment taxpayers and i mean to say show me the bottom eleven hearing any turning to the russian presidency for the third time slot a mere putin has pledged to unify the country and continue many forms to expand the economy. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lang you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture.

much brighter if you move from phones to pressure these. stunts on t.v. dot com. russia

remembers victory day celebrations across the country at a massive military parade marks sixty seven years since the end of world war two. ukraine's jailed former prime minister u.s. mashal has moved to a hospital after a hunger strike falls her claims she was beaten by prison guards. the u.n. envoy to syria warned civilians are in danger accusing damascus of failing to curb violence while version says it's facing a terror threat. what you are t. coming to live from moscow where it's one pm at the moment joshua welcome to the program well to.